To many, the name Tyler
Hamilton implies many things in 2006 that it didnít in 2004.† A year and a half
into his suspension for allegedly transfusing someone elseís blood, and at the
end of a lengthy appeal process that ultimately ended negatively for him, he
waits now, readying himself for a return to the sport he loves.† But as youíll
read, heís not just sitting around, letting the external events of this case
happen to him.

For some, Tyler Hamilton
has always been guilty.† Conversely, others will always remain faithful
believers in his innocence.† Many people have already made up their minds, one
way or the other, and there is seemingly little ground in the middle to waver
for them. The accusations have been made, the sanction has been delivered, and
the appeals have been lostóall that is left now is for him to make sense of this
chapter of his life and move forward.†

Personally, I find it hard
to remain unaffected by the human side of his story, especially after speaking
with him.†

I found Tyler to be
extraordinarily generous in both the time he took for this interview and the
obvious effort he made to answer every question I had, completely and to the
best of his ability.† Through talking with him, I found myself affected by his
calm, insightful, and clear responses.† His openness, the details with which he
supported his answers and his obvious passion for the sport of cycling all speak
of a person who possesses a quiet confidence in his own innocence and a firm,
implicit belief in himself.†

This interview traces
Tylerís path from his earliest cycling days through his suspension, and it also
addresses his hopes for the future, not only for his career but also for the
sport in general.† Further on that note, all of the questions in this interview
are my own.

Despite the legal travails
of the past year and a half and an unsolicited view of many elements of the
underbelly of the sport, Tyler remains steadfastly determined to provide honest
and detailed answers to anyone who asksóand yes, that means you too.† If
you do plan to ask, though, please do enough research first to make sure that
your question is well-founded.† This fact sheet is a good place to
start.† Many of these topics were also expanded on
in this article.
Within a matter of weeks, Tyler will have a forum on his
website.† Until then, however, all questions can be
addressed to him, in a respectful manner, as befits a genuine seeker of the truth
on this matter, in his guestbook.

† Just as Tyler said to me at
the beginning of this interview, ďYou can ask me anything.Ē
- now he has said it to
you, as well.†
Part 1 of this interview
here.

Yeah, I agree.† Now back
to the teams youíve ridden for and your evolution as a rider - like you said, you
took baby steps every year.† After a while, you could see that with your teams,
too - you could see that you were moving up in the team structure.† First you were
a lieutenant at Postal, then a co-leader at CSC, and then once you went to
Phonak, you were the man.†

Yeah, exactly.

So was that the
intentional plan, or did it happen more on its own?

†Yeah, well, a lot of people
were super surprised when I left CSC . . .

I was one of them, too .
. .††† ††

†Well, it was a hard
decision, donít get me wrong.† I had a great relationship with Bjarne Riis, and
not only was he a great director - he coached me and he was a good friend.† That
was a tough decision.† But I felt like I was at a point in my career where I
never wanted to look back and say, ďI wish I gave myself a chance.Ē† My goal,
ultimately, was to win the Tour.† Yíknow, Iíd ridden with US Postal for 3 years
when we won the Tour - I know how we did it, and thatís to ride for one rider, one
objective, nothing else - a 100% team effort for one individual - for one goal.†

And I didnít have that on
CSC, thatís for sure.† I mean, we had a lot of different goals.† I think that
year we won 3 stages with 3 different riders, we had 2 riders in the top ten and
3 in the top 20, maybe - something like that - we were in all the breakaways - we had
a great Tour.† And if you look at it solely on marketing - on the amount of
time we were on TV - then maybe we won the Tour in that category!

But I knew that Bjarne
wasnít ready to make me the 100%, sole team leader for a race like the Tour, and
put every other objective on the back seat - and he later admitted that - I donít
know where, but he admitted it.† And if you asked him today, heíd probably say
the same thing.† I mean, he never said it to me, but I knew, some time in the
early í04 season, he finally admitted it.† And it was good to see, because a lot
of people were so surprised.†

I donít ever want to look
back on my career and say ďwoulda, shoulda, couldaĒ.† And, sure, I couldíve
easily stayed on CSC - it was a family to me - I probably wouldíve been real happy
there, but in the back of my head I wouldíve always had that question.† I mean,
the focus likely wouldnít have changed.†

So when Phonak gave me the
opportunity to really hand-pick a team built around me, not only with the
riders, but the staff, 90% of my own equipment, my sponsors - that was a huge
opportunity.† I mean, not only to be a team leader, but also to make a lot of
decisions off the bike.† I mean, for me, I like that.† I like to do a lot of
thinking off the bike - making decisions for the team - making decisions about
whatís best for the team.† To me it was kind of a challenge.†

I mean - well, Lance
obviously, but I canít tell you many riders who bring multiple riders to a team,
multiple sponsors to a team, multiple staff members to a team.† Lance for
sure - maybe Jan Ullrich - but not many.†

Right, that puts you on
a whole different level, making those decisions.

Yeah, for sure, I think I
picked 7 or 8 riders for the í05 season.† All of my sponsors, basically, came
with me from CSC to Phonak, besides my bike sponsor.† So it was just a huge
opportunity, and if I had it to do again, Iíd do it the sameóabsolutely.†

Well, it makes a lot
more sense, talking to you about it than it did just looking in from the
outside.†

Right, and I was pretty
sure about what my decision was going to be during the Tour that year [2003],
and Ivan Basso was looking to make a change from Fassa Bortolo - and I told him at
that point that CSC was the team for him.† He was really nervous about waiting,
you know, because Bjarne couldnít decide yet, but I think that I may have been
partially responsible for that [Basso coming to CSC].† Really, I talked to him
several times.† I talked to his trainer at the time, Luigi CecchinióI told him.†
Who knows?† You know, I wanted to make sure that they [CSC] were ok.† And you
know what? - theyíre ok (laughs).† Theyíre ok without me.

So when you look at your
time at Postal, your time at CSC - you know, whenever you switch jobs- no matter
what you do - itís always a little stressful, because everything around you
changes.†

Oh yeah, right.

Yíknow, you miss
people.† You miss people that you worked withópeople that you became friends
with.† Who have some of your favorite teammates been?† †

Um, I donít know if I like
the word favorite.† Weíll say most influential, maybe.† Obviously, a guy like
Andy Hampsten - super influential in my career.† And then, moving forward, onto
Lance - he did a lot for my career, and Iíve always said that I wouldnít be where
I am today without him, you know?† And then, moving forward to CSC, I was able
to ride with Laurent Jalabert - actually, his last year of racing, which was
great.† I owe a lot to him.† Letís see - a guy with maybe less of a resume but I
learned a lot from was actually his younger brother, Nicolas.† He was just a
great guy, a good friend - heís a guy who would do anything for you - a super, super
teammate.† And heís the one guy I brought with me from CSC to Phonak - just a
great person - totally dedicated.† So those are a few names.† And, actually,
Nicolas was the guy who convinced me in the í04 Tour to actually stop.

Really?

Yupóhe was kind of the last
guy I talked to before I made the decision to stop.† He could see the way I was
feeling, the way I was riding - I was obviously in a lot of pain in my lower back,
and he convinced me that there was more in my future . . . I think the last
thing he told me was, ďYou know what?óthe Tour isnít everything.Ē†

Right, to hear that from
someone you respect . . .

Yeah, I have a lot of
respect for him.† And it was great to see today that he helped bring Floyd to
the finish line in Nice [Floyd Landis won Paris-Nice on the day of this
interview].† †You know, heís still doing his job and doing it at a high
level.†

Going back to that pain
from the 2004 Tour, but Iím even thinking more of the 2003 Tour and the 2002
Giroóyou had broken bones . . .

Yup

And you were still
racing.† I donít know if itís possible for anyone who hasnít experienced it to
imagine the amount of suffering involved in riding and winning a mountainous
Tour stage with a fractured collarbone, or finishing second overall in the Giro
with a broken shoulder.†

†I mean, one thing with my
collarbone, though - like, I mean, I was still in a lot of pain - but, for one thing
the bone was still together, it was a v-fracture, you know?

†Right, right

If it wouldíve completely
broken that wouldíve been difficult, it couldíve just stabbed me right through
the skin.† That would have been super difficult.† So I was lucky in a way that
it didnít completely break.† Obviously, I wouldíve been in a lot more pain.†
But, yeah, a fracture in my shoulder in 2002, and early. I think it was Stage 5
of the Giro - Stage 1 of the í03 Tour (laughs), I donít know.† Certainly the Giro
helped me realize that I could do it in the Tour in í03.† The Giro - luckily, I
didnít know that I had a fracture until after the race was over!

Really?

The next day I was in so
much pain that I went and got an x-ray, and sure enough.† Yíknow, I was pretty
sure that† I had a serious problem, because the pain didnít really go away
during the Giro.

Right.

But I really didnít even
want to know that it was broken during the race, because at that time I knew
that I had good form and I knew I had a chance to win, I didnít want anything to
get in the way (laughs).†

Yeah, thatís epic.

And I almost felt the same
way at the Tour in í03. I didnít want to get it x-rayed, but I really had to. It
was so early in the race.†

So did the officials or
doctors have any say as to whether you could continue?

Um, they donít recommend
it, but they canít stop you.† I think they thought I was crazy, but after doing
the Giro I knew it was possible.† Itís really just about accepting the pain and
just kind of putting it - not necessarily - if youíre always resisting the pain,
denying the pain - if you just accept it and know itís there and itís going to
continue to be there, it kind of makes it a little bit easier.† Itís a bit of a
head-game.† Really!† But 14 teeth later, man, I just ground my teeth down.†

And youíre still dealing
with that.

Actually, I still am today,
because I did a lot of damage in that Giro in í02, and that following off season
I got a lot of teeth replaced - I got caps put on my back teeth because they were
all fractured and ground down.† But then they made the caps the same size as the
teeth, which were already ground down a bit, and so my biteís been off for the
last couple of years.†

So this last year Iíve
taken advantage of my time off and Iím kind of dealing with my teeth
againógetting back to my normal bite from 12 years ago.†

Well, you wouldnít have
gotten the chance otherwise, right?

Absolutely, absolutely.† I
mean, Iíve taken advantage of my time at home - got my teeth taken care of.† I had
laser surgery on my eyes, so now I donít need prescription glasses.† Now Iím
bigger and better (laughs).† So, whoís that - the Bionic Man?† Right?

Right, right . . .

Build him bigger, better .
. .

Bigger, better, faster,
stronger (laughing)

Right.

So, how about the
training now?†

†Yeah, the training - I took a
little bit of time off from training - I was expecting to be vindicated last
month, didnít happen, you know.† I was training really hard.† I was planning on
racing at Paris-Nice, so I was training very hard, trying to get ready for
that.† It was going to be my first race in a year and a half.† Then obviously
the decision didnít go our way, so I took a little down-time to ride when I felt
like it.† I did some other things - did some skiing - traveled a little bit.† But
now Iím back training again - focused on coming back in September.† I still feel
like this time off is . . . Iím trying to look at the positives.† Itís given my
body two full years to recover a bit, you know?

Right.†

You know, the off-season is
never enough.† Before you know it, youíre at your December training camp, and
youíre stressing about that extra 10 pounds you gainedóbefore you know it,
youíre right back at it.

Well, it seems like the
season keeps getting longer and longer every year.

Absolutely, it gets
longer, your off-seasons get more hectic; and maybe, physically, youíre ready to
start, but mentally youíre not ready to start again.† I mean, Iím hungry, I canít
wait to get back.† I didnít realize how much I loved the sport of bike racing.†
I knew I loved it, but I miss it so much.† I was really surprised - really, until
you take a step back you donít realize it, because youíre just so in the middle
of things, you donít have a chance to really look at that from the outside.† I
miss competition, I miss the competing - I miss the whole atmosphere.† So I canít
wait to come back.† Iím so excited, Iím going to come back stronger - thatís for
sure.†

One more thing, Iím 35 - just
turned 35 a couple of weeks ago - most people who ride, 35, thatís pretty much the
end of your career, but now I feel like, with this break - Iím not trying to spin
another positive angle on this whole thing; but it certainly lengthened my
career.† I mean, Iím not tired.† Iím hungry to race a lot longer.† You canít
really put a number of years on it, but I donít feel 35 and washed up, thatís
for sure.†

Thatís what I was
wondering.

Yeah, not at all.† If you
said today, youíve got to race 5 more years, Iíd say, ďBring it on.Ē

So, with your training,
do you still shoot for certain numbers, or arenít you doing that at this point
yet?

Um, I will, but another
thing I didnít mention is that all í05 I kept getting ready my supposed re-start
to cycling, because this whole last year and a half, itís been just small,
little . . . by September í04 it was like, ďOk, by November thisíll be cleared
up.Ē† And then, ďOk, itís gonna be JanuaryĒ and then ďOk, itís gonna be
FebruaryĒ.† ďNow itís gonna be AprilĒ.† But in a strange way it was good because
it kind of kept me on top of my gameómaybe not 100% on top, but it kept me
training hard.† I kept ramping it up, thinking, ďOk, Iím going to start my
season here.Ē† There were probably 6 separate times that I was planning on
starting my racing season again.† So, in a way it kind of kept me in shape and
kept me on top of it.† I did some motor pacing - did a lot of testing.† So, again,
I was ready at the beginning of February.†

After my hearing in January
with CAS, I went straight over to
Europe and started training.† And
then I came back just before the decision.† I mean, I left all my stuff over
there - thatís how confident I was that I was going to be vindicated.† I left my
suitcases, my bike - I went to train in
Italy and I left my car in Italy,
and I live in Spain (we both laugh).† I mean, itís funny, but, well, it is
funny.† Thatís how confident I was.† I mean all of my crap is in Tuscany right
now! (more laughter) - my bike, my car, and two suitcases! - because I planned on
coming back two weeks later.† But seriously, I wasnít planning on not going back
real quickly.†

But, again, I was
relatively fit at the beginning of February - fit enough to start the
season, thatís for sure.† Fit enough to compete in a race like Paris-Nice.†
Certainly not fit enough to win, but fit enough to get back in the ball game.†

So I took a little time off
and now Iím just starting up again.† You know I ride every day, 4-6 hours a
day, maybe 3-6 hours a day - today was a little less.† So, yeah, Iíll start ramping
it up and do some motor-pacing this spring.† You have to work hard.† Missing out
on racing is really missing out on the top-end of training.† Racing makes you
stronger.† You canít train that much harder.†

Thatís why I asked,
because itís got to be hard to try to train the racing into your legs.

Yeah, yeah - so a lot of
motor pacing - a lot of digging deeper into the pain.

But youíre used to that.

Yeah, but it also takes
motivation.† If youíre not motivated, you canít do it - absolutely.† You need a
lot of motivation to do that.† I mean, sure, you can ride youíre bike every
day, thatís easy; but to go out and make yourself suffer, and then suffer some
more . . . but, no, Iíll be ready in September.†

So do you have a team
yet?

Um, Iím talking to teams. I
canít really say which ones yet; but thereís certainly interest - thatís nice to
know.† And a lot of the people I talk to donít believe Iím at home for the right
reasons.† Thatís good to hear as well.†

Well, it shows that you
havenít wasted all of this effort and all of this money . . .

Well, itís frustrating that
Iím at home, itís really frustrating.† I didnít blood dope - Iíll say that until
the day I die - thatís not going to change.† I know the truth - obviously the panel
members, the jury members, at the CAS hearing didnít see that.† Itís
frustrating.† I wish I could talk to them.† I was so, so confident, but it just
didnít work out.†

Well what would you say
to people - fans - around the world, those who want to believe in you.

Sure, sure - I understand.†
What they probably read in a 500 word article in a newspaper isnít very good,
you know?

Right, right.

A lot of stuff has
unfortunately been regurgitated from the first few days of this whole
catastrophe.† And a lot of the stuff out there is not 100% correct.† And a lot
of the facts just arenít reported at all, as you probably saw in the
article in the Daily Peloton.†

But, you know, anybody who
has any questions, well first they should read all the factsóthey should do some
research - you have to search for it a little bit - I mean, my website (http://www.tylerhamilton.com/)
has a lot of stuff - obviously, you guys have printed some stuff.† Youíre not
going to find it on most websites, I guess you could say.

But if they have any
questions, Iíd be more than happyóweíre going to make a forum for people to
write in questions on my website.† Itís not up yet, but it will be up.† At the
moment they can write their questions on my Guestbook (http://www.tylerhamilton.com/guestbook94.html),
and weíll try to address them all.† But, eventually, there will be a forum in
the next couple weeks.† I can answer any of them.† Iím not afraid of any
questions.† Thatís the way Iíve been from day one.† I have nothing to
hide.

So what have you learned
in the last year and a half about your character, your friends, your family?†
Tough times have a way of teaching a person a lot about who they are.

Yeah, well, this has been a
great† . . . Iíve learned a whole lot through this process.† As crazy as it
sounds, I have a lot to be thankful for - just because Iíve had so many friends
and family there for me.† It makes me realize that I have so much beyond
cycling.† Cycling, for me - sure, itís my career, but itís only a small part of my
life, and itís certainly not the most important part of my life.† And itís given
me a lot of clarity too - thatís been probably the biggest thing - just really who
is important to me and how important they are.† Before, maybe, I was just so
distracted because I had so many things going on.† Just, my life was crazy, so
busy, so hectic; but now I think my life is a little bit more simple, and it will
remain that way after I start racing again.† Because I know what the important
things are in my life.† Yeah, itís allowed me to have a lot more clarity.† I
donít know if thatís too vague, but . . .

No, no no . . . I think
thatís just about the best answer you could give.† Youíve got to be so focused
when youíre racing.† Youíve got to be so focused on you . . .

Right

†. . . and looking
forward all the time.† Thereís not enough time to reflect, to look back.†

No, thereís not enough time
to reflect.† Thereís not enough time to say, ďOk, here, letís take a step
back, whatís kind of important, whatís sort of important, whatís really importantĒ,
you know?

Right

And now I know.† Before,
maybe, I couldnít have figured it out, but now thatís an easy question to
answer.†

Yeah, so like you said
beforeóthere are some good things that came out of this.†

Oh, absolutely,
absolutely, you know, Iím going to come out of this so much stronger.† Thatís for
sure, to go through something like this - I mean, I already feel stronger, and Iíve
always felt even keeled, but I think Iím even more even keeled than I was
before.† But itís also taught me, I mean, every time I heard something before
this, I tended to believe it.† Now I think twice about a lot of stuff - just in
every day life!† I mean, Iíll hear something on the news - itís funny how on the
news you hear one thing and then in Spain you hear something else.† Know what I
mean?† Talking about the war, or something else like that.†

Oh yeah, Iíve noticed
that for sure.† Even in the cycling press . . .

Yeah, exactly.

I mean, somebody says
something in French and then it gets translated one way on an Italian site, and
a Spanish site translates it another way . . .

Oh yeah, yeah; thatís
terrible the way they do that.

Yeah, I mean, the
translations are totally off from one another . . .

Yeah, or they just make
their own ďguestimationsĒ about what they were thinking or trying to say.† And a
lot of these riders I know personally.† Some are good friends and some I just
know - and I know what theyíre writing is incorrect, or a big stretch of the
truth.†

Yeah, well it seems like
they have these words to work with, and there is some leeway there to spin the
translation one way or the other.† Itís really common, you can see it happening
all the time.

Yeah, itís pretty wild.

Okóanything elseóany
final thoughts that you have?

Well, againóIím not afraid
to answer any questions.† If anybody has any questions for me, theyíre welcome
to ask.† They can come to my website and Iíll try my best to answer them all.† I
want people to know this story.† Eventually, I will write a book about
this, thatís the plan - not to sell books or make any money - it has nothing to do
with that - just because itís a crazy story, and thereís a lot out there, thereís a
lot out there that people donít know about.†

Thereíre a lot of people
who havenít done the correct things here, and I want people to know that.†
Obviously, up until now, Iím about the only one who has suffered the
consequences, but thereíre a lot of facts out there that people donít even know
about.†

Thereíre some organizations
associated with cycling that need to change a little bit, letís say it that way
(laughs).† And I want to help. I want to put whatís happened in the past behind
me, and, for me, itís really about preserving the sport - allowing it to grow.†
Itís such a beautiful sport, and itís just a small little speck on the map here
in the
US.† I can just imagine some day, if itís something kids wanted to take up,
like football, baseball, basketball - I think itís the kind of sport where - itís
taken off in Europe.† Obviously, thereís a lot more history there, but weíre heading in the
right direction.†

Yeah, when you look at
the Tour of California and the crowds they had there.† Itís been building for a
while.† The base seems a lot broader now than it used to be.

Yeah, definitely. we just
have to; I mean cyclingís taken a big hit over the years.†† Hopefully, that wonít
continue.† Thereís been a lot of negativity - sometimes for the right reasons and
sometimes for the wrong reasons - and I think itís going to definitely have to
come down to the riders if weíre going to make a change.†

In the future, the riders
are going to have to take more of a stand - I mean, thereís a lot of stuff that
the riders arenít happy with that, maybe, theyíre too afraid to take a stand,
and you have to take a stand - really, because theyíre the sport.†† So Iíll try to
help out with that and lead the charge, so to speak.† Not for me, because,
really, Iím certainly in the last part of my career.† I was, for example,
training with a guy over in Italy - Thomas Dekker - heís actually leading Tirreno-Adriatico right now [and he ended up winning, ed.].†

Yeah, I saw that.† Heís
a special rider.

Yeah, heís 21 years
old, huge talent, heís one of the people that will make up the future of the
sport - heís a potential, multi-Tour de France winner.† Itís really going to take
the riders stepping up for the future of the sport, and Thomas Dekker is the
future of the sport.† I was training with him over in Tuscany in January.† For
me, the riders need to take a stand, because if they donít, some of these
organizations will just keep taking advantage, and guys like Thomas Dekker will
suffer.†

Rightótheir position
will never improve.

Exactly, but Iím not just
saying this for the reasons youíre probably thinking about - for example,
anti-doping.† Obviously, thatís one of the problems, but just riders having a
say in the way that races are held - the way finishes are set up - just more of a
say in the sport.† Iím not trying to bash the Pro Tour, but I wish the riders
had more of a say in the way that the Pro Tour was built.†

I mean, if the sportís
going to grow the way it should grow - personally, I think itís going to grow
regardless; but if itís going to grow the way it should, then the riders should
have a say, because weíre an important part of the equation - not the only part obviously, but an important part.† Thereís one variable just missing
- especially
now, looking in from the outside; Iíve had some time to look more closely, and
thereíre so many decisions being made without the riders having, really, any
voice.†

Yeah, right - youíre not
cannon fodder, right?

Well, Iím not pointing to
any one particular organization.† Iím just kind of generalizing here.† Iíve seen
a lot more of the inner circle here, and Iíve seen a lot more of the problems in
the last year and a half.† Things could change, you know? - things could be
better.† Thatís one thing I could help bring to the sport, thatís for sure.† The
sportís done a lot for me, thatís for sure, and I want to give back.†

My plans arenít just to
leave the sport when my career is over. I want to make sure that the sport
continues to grow, especially here in the US.† I mean, Iíve seen where itís been,
where it is now, and where it could go - itís exciting.† You just have to have the
right organization in charge.† I mean, there arenít enough checks and balances.†
Thatís not pointing at one particular organization.† The riders should have a
say.† People from the outside world without personal objectives should be asked
for feedback, you know?† There arenít enough checks and balances.†

We wouldnít have the
same perspective that you do as a rider, but anyone who follows the sport can
see it; itís there.† Itís obvious.†

Yeah, I mean the
anti-doping lab that said I was positive - they helped develop the test, they ran
the test, and then they received all of the financial benefit from the test.†

Yeah - thatís not right.†
Now they have a vested interest in making the test successful.

Right, and that would never
happen in the
US.† I mean, fine if they helped develop the test, but they could never run
the test if thereís a financial incentive there. †But, on the flip side, I canít
wait to get back to racing.† I mean, cycling is a beautiful sport. I wish people
focused more on that.† Unfortunately, these days, thereís a lot of negativity in
the sport of cycling - in the press, and especially in the general press.† But
itís a beautiful sport - a beautiful sport, and I canít wait to come back to it.